Saturday, September 8, 2007

Again, let me thank all of you for your patience this week. I always underestimate how busy the week after Labor Day will be for me.

Anyway, without further ado, let me announce the winners of Summer of Squares:

Cole wins a skein of handpainted alpaca for most number of squares.

Barbara wins a skein of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted for the most squares donated to charity.

Then I had my disinterested 3rd party (my dh) draw 2 names for the random drawing. I am happy to announce that Lyndsey Jane won a skein of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock fingering weight yarn, and Karen won Cole's donated prize, a copy of One Skein Wonders.

If all of the winners could email me your addresses, I will get the prizes in the mail asap.

Congratulations to all the winners, and a great big thank you to all of you who participated. It's been a really fun summer making all those squares! And thanks to the couple of you who mentioned doing this again next summer. I'm game, althought I think I will start it a little earlier next year so that maybe we will get a few more participants. So stay tuned next May for another Summer of Squares!

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

It has been quite a challenge this summer to get those squares knitted. I started off really well in July and then skidded to a halt almost in August. I really wish I had time to make more but with the wedding and all the moving I feel really accomplished to have knit as many as I did. I hope we can get in for another round next summer.Now that we are almost unpacked after a weekend of moving -- I hoped to get started up again by the end of the week.

I know I'm late and appologize. As of now I still have no pictures. My computer decided it didn't want to work anymore, so I've been using the no-sound, no-video, no-camera-hookup one instead. So, while I have been trying my best to make squares, I have no proof that I have made any yet. *sigh*

I guess that's all. Have really enjoyed seeing everyone else's work this summer. Maybe a round two next year? Possibly?

Monday, September 3, 2007

I haven't forgotten that Summer of Squares in coming to a close this weekend. It's just turned into a busier than expected weekend for me. I promise I will award the prizes in the next day or too. Thank you for your patience!

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

I can't believe that it is August 22nd already! Labor Day is right around the corner. And that means that our Summer of Squares is coming to a close. However, there is still plenty of time to make some more squares, and/or post about squares you have already made.

I spent last weekend working on another group of squares. I made one square for Krochet Krystal and 9 for a Warm Up America blanket.I used Caron Simply Soft for the daisy square, and 2 skeins of Plymouth Encore for the WUA squares.

I also wanted to apologize for not getting back to those of you who volunteered to donate prizes. If you are still willing to donate, that is terrific. Since I have a couple of skeins of yarn for prizes, I thought that it might be fun to have some non-yarn prizes. Maybe a pattern book or some notions would work well. But it's up to you guys. Anything you can think of will work just fine. Also, I mentioned something at the very beginning about awarding a prize for the most squares donated to charity, but I haven't tracked that very well. So if you could post here or email me about how many squares you donated, that would be a big help.

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

I know that I have been neglecting my afghan squares while I have been finishing up a few other projects. But this week my crochet guild has asked for a square or 2 for a comfort ghan we are putting together for one of our members who lost her husband unexpectedly in July. So here is my contribution:Both squares are made out of Wool Ease, and I used WUA's shell stitch pattern for both. They worked up very quickly, and it felt good to get back to some afghan squares again.

Also, I just wanted everyone to know that I leave Saturday on vacation. I am spending next week in Nova Scotia. So I won't be online during that time. I will check back in as soon as I get back to CT, though. Have a great week!

Saturday, July 28, 2007

I want to say a big Thank You for my prize, I received the yarn earlier this week and it is gorgeous (and makes me even more sad that we can't get knitpicks in the UK). I think I have a wedding to go in september and am going to look for a blue dress so i can make a nice stole out of it. Thank you again. I'm busy with my sockapalooza socks and MS3 at the moment so haven't had much chance to work on my mitered square blanket but as soon as i have finished sock 2 i will get right back to it.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

I'm sorry I haven't been by to post this week. It just took some time to catch up with emails and blogreading! Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that I did manage to pick up 2 prizes at the Knit and Crochet Show last week. Here are pictures and specs:

First up, we have a skein of Lorna's Laces hand dyed worsted weight yarn in the colorway Gold Hill. This is a superwash wool, and there's 225 yards in the skein.

Then we have a hand painted yarn from The Alpaca Yarn Company. It is 100% alpaca, and it seems to be a DK weight. There's 220 yards on the skein.

I think that the person who makes the most squares can pick which skein she would like to receive, and then the other skein will go to winner of the random drawing. So hopefully this will motivate you to keep making squares the rest of the summer! Also, I know some of you offered to donate prizes, so I hope this will help give you some ideas of what to donate. Not all prizes need to be yarn, however. Books or notions might be possibilities, too.

Finally, I want to note that, what with the conference and everything, I have been on a brief hiatus from making squares. However, I intend to get back to my square making this weekend. Have a great day!

Friday, July 13, 2007

I have 5 more mitered squares done! My pictures will be coming soon -- I plan to do a huge group photo at the end of the month so I can force myself to get the 15 made that I set my goal for. Plus I have been having connectivity problems. Please see here for more info.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

I will be away for the next 4 days at the Knit and Crochet Show, and I will be offline during that time. I promise to catch up with email and updating the sidebar when I get back. Have a great weekend, and keep making those squares!

Friday, June 29, 2007

I am mailing more squares today. To the Greensburg project I am sending 8 squares. To Share a Square I am sending 4 ( just can't get the right gauge with the yarn I am using, giving up on this yarn, purchasing new).

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Here are the last two facecloths for Greensburg. I plan to mail off my package if not this weekend definitely the weekend after July 4th. I haven't had much time to make any progress on G's mitered square blanket the past couple of days but I do have another square on the needles.

These two facecloths were made with US # 10.5 needles holding two strands of Peaches N Creme worsted weight cotton yarn together (one varigated and one white). I cast on 25 stitches and just knitted them in garter stitch until they were about 7-8" long (really didn't measure them but I did eyeball them enough to see they were the size of a regular washcloth).

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

I crocheted 4 granny squares last night, it was fun, I'll be shipping those and whatever I get done tonight this Friday. The grannies are fun and then I'll start some square for Gracious Parcels. I have done squares for GP before, keep checking firefly's blog as she will post pictures of the squares and the completed afghans, always fun to pick out the squares I have sent.

I have found 2 more charities that are collecting squares, and I wanted to pass along the info to all of you.

The first charity is called "Gracious Parcels" (blog here), and they are collecting 7" knitted squares that are being made into afghans for people who are moving into houses built by Habitat for Humanity. What a lovely housewarming gift!

Then, Krystal, over at Krochet Krystal, is looking for 6.5" squares made from her own pattern, which she will send you if you promise to make a square and send it back to her. She is assembling all the squares into blankets to be donated somewhere. The pattern is a cute daisy square, and one of my July goals will be to make at least one, if not more, to send to her.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Sorry for not posting in so long -- things have been a little crazy over in my neck of the woods. If you care to read about it -- you can do so here. I have been working on mitered squares for the wedding (possibly Christmas) gift I intend on giving G for us to use once it gets finished. I tell ya I am very impressed with what is going on with all the mitered squares! Love the progress that Lindsey-Jane is making.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

My sock yarn stash mitred square blanket is difficult to photo as it is the width of a double bed, but I tried to capture the idea. The squares are not knit separately but each is knit individually before the next can be started.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

If any of you crochet, I just ran into another charity project called "Share a Square". The woman running the project is looking for traditional 6" granny squares that will be made into blankets for children attending cancer camp next summer. Luckily, I have 11 squares already made that I am going to send along to her.

Now, I have decided that, even though we are a small group, I want to really encourage everyone to post as much as possible. Of course, in order to post, you need to have something to post about, so hopefully this will also encourage you to make lots of squares as well. So I have decided to have a mini contest! Every time you post to the blog between now and Saturday, July 7th, your name will be entered into a drawing. The more times you post, the more chances you have to win. I will draw a name on Sunday, July 8th and mail the prize off before I leave for the Knit and Crochet Show the following Thursday. And the prize?

One skein of Knit Picks Shimmer in the "Morning Mist" colorway. Shimmer is 70% alpaca and 30% silk, and the skein is 440 yards. So there you have it. Happy posting!

Monday, June 18, 2007

Now all I need to do is finish 2 facecloths and I will be ready to send this package off to Mrs. Laura.

I will be beginning my mitered squares for my own blanket now. I think I will try to get enough squares made to put it together as a wedding gift for G or at least that is the plan right now depends on how things go with all this other stuff we are doing.

Edit: After catching up on some blog reading I came back to this post and looked at my squares. It never dawned on me until today that I had knit 4 Harry Potter inspired squares (they may not be exact colors but close enough)--the ones on the left are a dead ringer match for Ravenclaw (book and movie colors), Gryffindor, and Slytherin. I don't own any black yarn so Hufflepuff just will have to be left out.

Oh and look---

My dad brought me this shirt back from his motorcycle trip. You can read more about that over in my blog.

Friday, June 15, 2007

I decided that I would get the shop involved with Project Linus here locally. I met with the director of the local chapter on Monday and we are now going to be a pick up point and will be sponsoring a monthly gathering. Here are the first 3 blocks of an original design especially for Project Linus.

I'm doing a modular mitered construction (hate, hate, hate sewing things together!) so these are being "joined" as I go. They are actually going to look like diamonds as the blanket is going to be attached to a felted fish pillow. Hard to explain but you will see as I go. Once I'm done, I'll post the free pattern. I also plan to get some blocks done for the Greensburg project. This is a great idea and look forward to seeing more of everyone's work.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

My knitting progress has slowed somewhat due to having switched patterns. I went from miters to the square pattern where you begin with just 2 stitches and I just don't knit those quite as fast. I am working on square #13 of 15 I plan to send to Rebuilding Greensburg and I still have 2 more facecloths to knit for them also. I will post pictures as soon as they are finished!Happy Knitting!I look forward to seeing pictures of everyones squares.

I just joined, I have been knitting square for Greensburg and I found your blog through Cole's blog. I live in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, I am a native Floridian. I am married to Steve and I work as a Legal Assistant for a large law firm in Miami, Florida. Square are great for summer, too hot to knit anything else down here. I have sent to mailings of about 10 squares each for Greensburg. I am presently working on my third package. I look forward to chatting with you.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Well, I only heard back from one of you, so I am assuming face cloths are ok with everyone. This reminds me that I have some cotton chenille in my stash that needs used up, so I may join Cole and make a couple of cloths for Greensburg too.

I also realized that I didn't post my new afghan square project over here. So, without further ado, I give you my watermelon afghan square:

I am using 3 colors of Caron Simply Soft Brites, the pattern for the "Babette" square, and an H hook. Each square is 10", so I should need 24 squares for a 40"X60" afghan. I am currently working on the first 10 squares at once, so I am getting close to half way there. When this is finished, I intend to donate it to either Project Linus or Blankets for the Gulf. I should add that it is one of the most fun projects I have ever worked on!

Saturday, June 9, 2007

I have been contemplating Cole's question about making face cloths in addition to afghan squares as part of this "along". I'm ok with it, since they are square, but I wanted to check with the other members to see what you think. I don't want someone thinking, "That's not what I signed up for". So please leave a comment and let me know if you have any objections.

Also, in case you don't read Laura's blog, I wanted to let you know that she has requested that all squares for Rebuilding Greensburg be in the mail by August 10th. She would like to start sorting squares on August 15th. She has also doubled her original goal to 2240 squares, enough to make 40 afghans. So there is plenty of work to be done there yet! Also, if you need a little more incentive, Criquette is having a contest to encourage everyone to make even more squares for Greensburg.

And finally, I want to extend a big welcome to all our new members! Our numbers are starting to grow. Also, I am going to add a new list to the sidebar, so that we can keep track of how many squares everyone has made. Right now, I think Cole is in the lead with 10. So keep knitting and crocheting, and keep those posts coming!

I'm new to the KAL and have enjoyed looking at everyone's squares. I am a long time knitter and crocheter and have made several afghans out of granny squares in the past. What I am really eager to learn is how to knit a mitered square afghan where one does not have to sew together all those squares. I have tons of leftover sock yarn I'd love to use up. I'm also a rippler and have two afghans going now-a knitted Abfab Kit by Colinette in feather and fan, and a multicolored Susan B ripple that I am crocheting in lots of different Red Heart colors. Thanks for letting me join, and I am eager to learn and help others. Squares are so easy and cool to do in the summer.

Thursday, June 7, 2007

I have 2 more completed squares that are going to be included in my shipment to Rebuilding Greensburg ---- one is an afghan square (#4) and the other is a facecloth (#5?).

Mrs. Priscilla since you are in charge I have a question for you:

Can facecloths and washcloths be counted as squares if they are going to a charity organization?

I was just curious about this because I have some cotton yarn I need to turn into something.

For those who don't know me -- I am Cole. I learned to knit about 3 summers ago from my Nana. I mostly knit gifts for others and items for charity organizations; you can also check out all of my little quirkiness out at my blog to see other things I am working on. I am so glad that Priscilla came up with this fabulous idea for the Summer of Squares. This will be a great experience to give to others in need and to dwindle down a lot of my one skien of all the colors I have hidden away in my stash. I don't have enough of one color to make anything big so I will definitely be able to crank out a lot of square variations.

Lyndsey-Jane: I can't wait to see how your sock yarn blanket turns out.

Priscilla: Your squares are always pretty.

I would like to donate something for the prizes -- if anything comes to mind please let me know.

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Hi I'm Lyndsey-Jane. I am currently knitting a mitred square blanket out of old sock yarn leftovers. The pattern is by the Shelly Kang and the tutorial for it can be found www.shellykang.com scroll down on its on the sidebar.It is slightly different as the squares are not knit seperately - but I am assured as they are squares I am still eligable for this KAL. I don't have any photos at the moment as my camara is currently enjoying a (unexpected) stay at my boyf family.

I'm having a busy week, but I managed to finish one more square for Greensburg last night.

You can read all about my trials and tribulations with knitting on the bias on my blog. Mostly I'm unhappy because it isn't truly square. I think my next square for Greensburg is either going to be a mitered square like Cole's or crocheted. I haven't decided which yet.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Hello ya'll!I just wanted to let you guys know about this pattern. It is a super easy mitered square pattern and I have fallen in love! I thought it would be neat to share it with everyone. It is a super stash buster too. I have knitted up several balls out of my stash using it. I promise to post pictures by Saturday at the lastest (my squares are still at my mom's house!).

Edit: I am using the larger square pattern and my # 7 (US) Clover bamboo needles and Red Heart Brand acrylic worsted weight yarn. I haven't measured them yet so they might be a little bit smaller than the requirements (8") for Rebuilding Greensburg, but they are also taking measurements that range from 7"-8.5" per what is listed below..... I did a little bit of cutting and pasting from Mrs. Sugar Bunny's blog -- she stated on her page for Greensburg:

ADDED MAY 14, 2007

What if my square is not exactly eight inches - is that okay?Don't worry - send it anyway! I have read many other afghan project organizers say that the squares they receive are all over the map in the size range. This looks like it will be a big project y'all!! That gives us the luxury to sort squares by size. If your square is 7" or 7.5" or 8.5" or whatever, it will be sorted with other squares the same size so that when it's time to seam we won't have to worry about stretching or pulling ones into submission to conform with a larger or smaller square next to it. Send what you have - we can use them all!

What needle size should I use?Use a needle size that will give you a fairly dense fabric. With worsted weight yarn that will probably be US 6, 7, or 8. If your stitches are a little loose you could double the yarn or add something else as a carry-along to add a little bulk. Two strands of sock yarn = worsted weight in most cases. A sport or DK + one strand of sock yarn will work well too!

I just want to encourage our new members to let us know a little about yourselves and what you are working on this summer. Please don't be shy about posting!

Also, I added a list of member blogs to the sidebar to make it easier to visit each other's blogs and get to know each other. Karen and I have discovered through email that we both went to the same university in California, although at different times. So you never know what you'll find out about each other! If I missed anyone's blog, please let me know and I will add the link immediately.

Time seems to be a little short this week, but I will try to finish up a square or two and post pictures in a few days.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

I just want to thank you Priscilla for coming up with this wonderful idea! I can't think of a better way to help me destash and to help a charity organization in the process. I have 5 squares made already and I am so excited to make more.

Well when I got home this evening I discovered that I left my other squares at my mom & dad's house this weekend. My mom likes to see things that I knit and she always tells me how nice they look. I have offered to teach her several times but she says she is going to stick to quilting.

Friday, May 25, 2007

It's looking more and more like I am going to be spending my summer making afghan squares for one project or another, and really, what a great summer project afghan squares will make! Looking around the Internet, it seems like everyone I meet is also working on squares of one sort or another. So the idea for this "along" popped into my head. I would like this to be a place where we can share new patterns, tips and tricks for making squares, and info on charities looking for squares.

I want this "along" to be relaxed and fun, but I do have a few rules that I would ask everyone to follow:

1. Any fiber artist is welcome to join, as long as your finished project can become part of a blanket or afghan. I anticipate that most of you will knit and/or crochet, but quilters, sewers, or whoever, are welcome to join us. Also, I keep using the word "square", but please feel free to make squares, rectangles, hexagons, or whatever shape you want. Again, just make sure it can be joined with others of its type to make a blanket.

2. Your squares can be put toward whatever project you like, but I would ask that everyone who joins donates at least one square to charity over the course of the summer. There are some links on the sidebar of charities looking for squares or blankets, or you can send your square to me and I will find it a good home. Also, please be aware that most charities have specific size requirements for their squares. 8" and 12" squares seem to be fairly popular sizes, but Warm Up America prefers 7" X 9". Also, if there is enough interest, we could possibly work together to make a blanket to donate somewhere. Any contribution you made to that effort would certainly count towards fulfilling this rule. (We can decide on size and type of yarn later.)

3. You may join us at any time prior to August 15th by emailing me for a Blogger invite. You will need a Blogger account to participate, but signing up for one is free.

4. The "along" will run until the end of August, and to encourage you to make lots of squares, prizes will be awarded over Labor Day weekend. There will be a prize for the most squares made over the summer, the most squares donated to charity, and a random drawing for all participants. If anyone would be interested in donating a prize, that would be great. The more prizes we have, the more names I can draw at random.

5. To be eligible for the drawings, you need to post pictures of each square you make (although you can certainly do group shots of squares if it's easier).